Does anyone remember that tragic story of the time Bethenny Frankel was lost at sea for a harrowing 21-hours and had to be rescued by the Coast Guard and towed to shore? Yeah, well apparently that was all staged for the upcoming season of Bethenny Ever After. Oops!

Unfortunately Bethenny forgot there is this thing called public record where the Coast Guard is concerned and she also forgot that sometimes when you slander people to the media they might retaliate with their own version of the events. And that version might be a little more credible…

In a new interview with Jewish Journal, Tim Russell, the towboat operator who “rescued” Team Frankel is speaking out and basically dismissing Bethenny’s version of events as “not true!”

It all started during Bethenny’s appearance The Ellen DeGeneres Show last week. During her sit down with Ellen, Bethenny recounted the tale of her day at sea, including claiming she gave Tim Russell a $2,800 tip for safely returning her to shore! When Ellen tricked Bethenny by claiming Tim was backstage during the show, Bethenny’s face drastically changed!

That interview prompted Tim, who has 40-years sea experience, to speak out about what really happened! Tim explains it was actually Bethenny’s therapist, Xavier Amador who was also captaining the boat and has 30-years of sailing experience himself, that called him around 5am requesting assistance. The therapist was able to give Mr Russell “his exact coordinates, which he read off of the GPS system!” The GPS that was allegedly broken?!

Tim recounts that the therapist “did call the Coast Guard, and the USCG suggested he call a tow company because there was no danger.” After telling the therapist his rate for the tow and learning that the boat was fine, Tim “he explained they did not need him and could come in on their own as the boat was fully functioning.” But Bethenny’s therapist “insisted they needed help.” Tim explains he “thought it was bizarre and did not know what was going on, but did not want to ignore the call incase there was an issue,” so he headed out with his wife to check out the situation.

When he arrived the boat was completely fine and there were nine people on board: Bethenny, Jason Hoppy, her therapist, and a film crew of six people! Bethenny’s boat “simply followed Tim and his wife back to the shore with no towing and a functioning GPS,” Tim maintains.

Upon arriving at the dock, Tim observed that “Bethenny got out of the boat and kissed the dock, but only after the crew got out of the boat to get the shot,” which is when he realized it was a set-up for her reality show. Tim insists he had no idea what was going on or who Bethenny was, until her therapist informed him Bethenny is a “television star and just sold her company for $120 million dollars.”

And now about that supposed tip – Tim says it never happened, despite what Bethenny shared on Ellen’s show! He is adamant he never went to the press to complain about Bethenny and after hearing her in the press and on Ellen he wanted to “make the point that Bethenny was not honest,” and that is why he spoke to a reporter. He also felt her untrue statements put his livelihood at risk. Tim believes “it was all for show when she went on Ellen and started to lie about him.” Yikes!

The U.S. Coast Guard also confirms that Bethenny was not rescued by their outlet, with a spokesman explaining: “the captain of Frankel’s boat did initially contact the Coast Guard, but, because the situation was not “life-threatening,” the skipper was given the phone numbers of local “salvaging” outfits that could help get them back to shore.”

Bethenny has yet to comment on this latest scheme, but I’m sure her official statement is coming soon! I mean she’s made a career of shooting her mouth off! A photo of Bethenny and her crew on the dock prior to getting “lost at sea” is below.

Photo credit: Roger Wong/INFEvents.com

So what is your take on the incident? Do you think Bethenny is being truthful or is Tim Russell seeking his 15 minutes? Do you believe Bethenny would go to such lengths for her reality show?